Public Space Management Can Help Transform Streets

“If you follow New York City Politics, if you follow the work of Open Plans, Mark is always a couple of election cycles ahead, but the city usually catches up.” Mike Lydon, founder StreetPlans.

“Your Open Streets talk literally changed my entire thinking about streets as public spaces.” Madeleine Rumely, Park Slope Civic Council

The overwhelming popular support for outdoor dining and open streets has demonstrated that the vast majority of people in New York want livable streets. However, in most places, the city lacks the mechanisms to manage streets as public spaces. In the following talk, I lay out a plan for how New York can build a public space management infrastructure and allow for a transformation of our streets.

My talked was followed by a panel discussion with open street management heroes: Sophie Maerowitz: Co-founder of Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition, Mark Caserta: the Executive Director of the Park Slope 5th Avenue Business Improvement District, and Jim Burke of the 34th Avenue open street who share the stories of their struggles of New Yorker’s to make open streets work during the pandemic.

The feedback from my talk was overwhelming positive. Anyone interested in seeing streets thrive as public space should watch.